The Stars and Stripes Tournament took place last night, now in it’s fourteenth year, this event is also known as “The Feel Good Tournament” as people don’t compete to win stuff, but rather to give it away, especially need children. One of the main beneficiaries of this tournament is Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Orange County. The event came to an end last night, with a concert on the beach of the World Class Rockers, featuring artists from the bands of The Eagles (who of course sang Hotel California), Santana, Steppenwolf, Journey, Toto and Lynard Skynard…during the three day event over $1.8 million dollars was raised.

Five of our boats participated in this tournament and these were their results.

- “Rebecca” released two striped marlin

- “Valerie” released one striped marlin, caught two 20 lbs dorado and one yellow fin tuna.

- The Rasmussen family from Valencia, Ca released five striped marlin aboard “C- Rod”

Monday, June 21, 2010

This 18 ft Basking shark was caught by commerical fisherman in Rosarito, Baja California on May 14th and weighed about 2600 lbs. It's a shame that such a magnificent creature was killed, but it got caught on their longline. We hear that it was cut up and given to the locals for food.

The basking shark is the second largest living shark, after the whale shark. It is a cosmopolitan species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving and generally harmless filter feeder.

Taxonomy

This shark is called the basking shark because it is most often observed when feeding at the surface and appears to be basking in the warmer water there. It is the only member of the family Cetorhinidae.

Range and habitat

The basking shark is a coastal-pelagic shark found worldwide in boreal to warm-temperate waters around the continental shelves. It prefers 8 to 14 °C (46 to 57 °F) temperatures, but recently has been confirmed to cross the much-warmer waters at the equator. It is often seen close to land, including bays with narrow openings. The shark follows plankton concentrations in the water column and is therefore often visible at the surface.

Anatomy and appearance

The largest accurately-measured specimen was trapped in a herring net in the Bay of Fundy, Canada in 1851. Its total length was 12.27 metres (40.3 ft), and it weighed an estimated 19 short tons (17 t).

Normally the basking shark reaches a length of between 6 metres (20 ft) and a little over 8 metres (26 ft). Some specimens surpass 9–10 metres (30–33 ft), but after years of large-scale fishing, specimens of this size have become rare.

They are slow-moving sharks (feeding at about 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) and do not evade approaching boats (unlike great white sharks). They are harmless to humans if left alone and are not attracted to chum.

Even though the basking shark is large and slow, it can breach, jumping entirely out of the water.

Importance to humans

As a result of rapidly declining numbers, the basking shark has been protected and trade in its products restricted in many countries. It is fully protected in the UK, Ireland, Malta, Florida and US Gulf and Atlantic waters. Targeted fishing for basking sharks is illegal in New Zealand. Once considered a nuisance along the Canadian Pacific coast, basking sharks were the target of a government eradication program there from 1945 to 1970. As of 2008, efforts are underway to determine if any sharks still live in the area and monitor their potential recovery.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

BILLFISH: We wish we could say that fishing was better than it is, but we can’t; even though we had some great catches, the consistency just wasn’t there. It tended to be feast or famine. Nevertheless, marlin was the top catch this week with forty two percent of charters catching stripers. Two of our boats fought the most prized of all billfish, the broadbill swordfish, on June 13th, both at the 11.50 spot, but unfortunately could not get them on board. A group from South Carolina, fishing aboard “Attitude Adjustment” fought the first swordfish and tried to bait four striped marlin without success. The Gordon’s from Weimar, Texas fought their swordfish for over an hour before losing it, aboard “Rebecca”….pretty disappointing for everybody. It’s been a tough week with clients, as Cabo has such a great reputation that people expect to catch fish all the time and the crews feel the pressure, as they want to catch fish too; it’s a matter of professional pride and they want their anglers to be happy. However, with the effects of the El Niño current on the way out we are confident that it won’t be long until things are back on track and of course the only way to catch fish is to go out and get some lines in the water. We did have some very nice catches though, such as those on June 10th, when the Damon family from Satellite Beach, Florida fished aboard “Tracy Ann”, just a mile and a half from shore at Cabeza de Ballena, where they released two striped marlin and boated a dorado and a tuna. A few days later they went on to release another striped marlin and boat a tuna, on the same boat, this time off of the Old Lighthouse. We met a lovely young English couple from Sheffield, Chris and Sally Wade, who went out on the “Rebecca” and did extremely well to release three striped marlin at the 11.50 spot, estimated at 100 to 130 lbs, all on live mackerel. This same day, June 15th, “Tracy Ann” fishing this same area released two striped marlin for Lindsay Jones & Jackson Halder from Helena, Montana. “Tracy Ann” scored big again, on June 14th, with a triple marlin day, seven miles from the 11.50 spot, all released after taken live mackerel for Ted O’Neil & Douglas Cole Jr, from Dublin and Livermore, California, respectively. “C Rod” also had a good mixed bag day for James Fowler from Mound, Texas with a striped marlin released, four tuna and one dorado boated, again at the 11.50 spot. Pisces anglers caught a total of 24 striped marlin this week, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Slim pickings on smaller game this week, with just sixteen percent of boat catching tuna and nine percent catching dorado. Tuna catches were usually of a single fish as were dorado, with weights just average on both species at 15 to 25 lbs. We had a couple of wahoo, one at 45 lbs that took at guacamaya lure six miles from Cerro Colorado, for Matt Covell from La Cañada aboard “No Big Deal”. The other wahoo was 38 lbs aboard “La Brisa” on a petrolero lure for Dan Emerson from Boise, Idaho. A few skipjacks, jack crevalles and even a manta ray was caught and released.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Emerson family were thrilled to catch this beautiful wahoo which weighed 38 lbs aboard “La Brisa” on Tuesday June 15th . Many meals will come from this one fish and the meat is about the best you can get, firm, white and no bones. Shown here also are crew members Nicolas Winkler and Salvador Flores……Salvador is particularly good with kids.

They have been travelling for five months and have been all over the world. They considered fishing in New Zealand which is actually home to the largest striped marlin on record; getting up to 495 lbs, but decided Cabo was better value and gave them better odds and they were right……they released three striped marlin today.

This is Pancho our P.R guy…..he meets anglers at the dock when they get back from fishing and is always available to take any unused bait off of their hands…..the sweet face belies a huge body that hasn’t missed too many meals.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Sunday, June 13, 2010

BILLFISH: We saw a very nice increase on marlin catches this week, making them the number one catch in Cabo this report. Nevertheless, anglers were noticeably absent from Cabo, so very few boats went out. This is a shame as the fishing is now back, after six pretty much dry, marlin months. Top boat for us this week was “Tracy Ann” with four striped marlin released plus one tuna boated on June 7th, all caught close by, just two miles out from Chileno by Scarlett and Lee Gibson fishing with Brent Stiehl all from Newman, Georgia. Another boat that did well was “Ruthless” with two marlin released, this time a long way off at Destiladeres on June 4th; both marlin took live caballito for Robert Kleypas and Gaylon Freeman, from Texas. This same day Duncan Giddings celebrated his tenth wedding anniversary with wife Linda by fishing aboard “Rebecca”, they were thrilled to release a striped marlin (see photo, that’s Duncan embracing his marlin) and to boat one dorado, which were scarce this week. “La Brisa” had a double marlin day on the 9th for Nicolas Kokinelis and Chris Vasiliou from Tarpon Springs, Florida and Bethesda, Maryland, respectively; they fished just one mile from Cerro Blanco with the marlin taking live mackerel, they also caught a jack crevalle. The boat with most variety this week was “Valerie” on June 8th, with one striped marlin released, two wahoo and one tuna boated for a group of fathers and sons consisting of Richard Kernion, Sr. and Jr from Matarie, Louisiana fishing with friends, Luke Manfre, John & Brandon Brignac, David and Pierce McBride. Sixty one percent of charters caught marlin this week, all stripers. Pisces anglers caught a total of 18 marlin, with 16 released. Those boated were 100 and 130 lbs.

OTHER SPECIES: Not a great deal of action on smaller game this week as marlin dominated the catches. As mentioned above there were two wahoo on the Valerie, quite nice sizes at 40 and 50 lbs each that took blue and while colored lures. There was one other wahoo, a bit smaller at 30 lbs caught aboard “Rebecca” taken by Duncan and Linda Giddens, mentioned above, from Lighthouse Point, Florida who also got their second dorado. Yellowfin tuna catches were sporadic with twenty two percent of boats catching football size fish in the 10 to 20 lb class. The most any boat caught was four, “La Brisa”; this was for Nick Kokinelis & Chris Vasilion who also released a striped marlin this day, June 8th. Just a few jack crevalle around, otherwise, no other small game for us.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Skies clear, seas moderate tending to rough the days the wind blew. The Sea of Cortez was much calmer than the Pacific which experienced cold and windy days, with whitecaps and fog on some mornings.

LOCATION: Chileno, Cerro Blanco, Santa Maria, Destiladeras.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: Depending on where you fished, it ranged from 77 to 81 F.

BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, cedar plugs for tuna, green/yellow, blue/white.

Friday, June 11, 2010

We had a great time on the Tracy Ann this past Monday! It was my 6th trip and my wife's 5th trip to Cabo and our friend Brent Stiehl came on his first trip and bagged his first two striped marlin! We've fished with the Pisces Fleet on several occasions and have never come back disappointed! The Captains are expert fishermen and the mates are first class! Our Crew, Captain Julio, Martine, and Raul, worked especially hard all day and never took a break! We caught 4 Striped Marlin all were good size and even the small one gave us a great show on top of the water! The three largest were all well in the 120 to 150 pound range. And there were even 3 or 4 that the crew worked hard to hook but we couldn't get them to take the bait. In all my trips to Cabo this was the most fish I've ever seen on a single day! My wife caught a real nice Yellow Fin Tuna in the 25 pound range. It was promptly filleted and bagged at the marina and we had the hotel cook it for dinner. Without a doubt the best tuna you could ever have! If you are coming to Cabo and thinking about fishing you can't go wrong with Pisces!

The prices are competitive and the crews will work hard to find and catch fish!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

I have attached a photo of the Marlin we released with Captain JR on the Rebecca on June 4th. This was my 10th Marlin and we caught it on our 10 Year Anniversary! Me and my wife Linda had a wonderful time fishing with Capt JR and Ernesto. We can’t wait to come back and fish with you guys again! I have few more photos of the Marlin jumping and a nice photo of the Wahoo we caught with JR on June 3rd. I will send them on separate emails so you can open them quicker. We are hoping that you can put some of these photos on your website.

Please tell Oscar that we really appreciate everything. He did a great job and took great care of us! Also thank Capt JR for us and show him the photos if you get a chance.

- Top anglers of the day where Richard Kernion and family from Louisiana catching two nice Wahoo between 40 to 50 lbs…pretty unusual to get two in a day and this is just about the best eating fish you can get, one Yellow Fin tuna, and one striped marlin released…..way to go guys.

They are tucking into the wahoo right now next door at Captain Tony´s, who do the best fish in town.

A client’s experience of fishing with Pisces…the fishing was so good, he was wondering if he could handle it….but expertly coached he came through with flying colors.
First catches were aboard Ruthless, followed by Adriana.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Orlando Murillo and Abraham Castro, make a great team, they are dedicated and professional and Abraham especially has a cheery character. Orlando is originally from Loreto further up the peninsula and Abraham has fishing in his blood as he is the son of one our most popular captains’ Julio from the Tracy Ann. Abraham learned about fishing from the time he could walk. Captain Orlando speaks fair English. They are aggressive at fishing and work hard to come back with flags flying, as it is a matter of personal pride for them, they have lots of knowledge between them. Abraham is young with a lot of energy and we have received many comments as to how likeable he is as well as what a great fisherman.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

BILLFISH: We had a huge improvement on fishing in Cabo this week, as the El Niño current winds down. But Cabo was not the only news, once again Loreto surprised us all, with two swordfish being caught again, by Robert Ross aboard “Bad Company”, on the same day, May 31st. Robert and his crew were fishing 6 miles east of Isla Catalina when they hooked the first fish, estimated at 160 lbs. They then went on to boat another which they estimated at 400 to 500 lbs. Our thanks to the deckhand Jorge Luis Hernandez for keeping us updated, texting us the info, as it happened and then sending photos for the skeptics. This is quite an achievement anywhere for an angler to catch three swordfish in one month. Marlin catches improved substantially and at the close of the week most boats were catching at least one per day each, with catches of two not uncommon, plus some smaller game fish as well. We had a couple of boats with three marlin days…first was “Rebecca” with three striped marlin and a dorado off of Medanos Blancos for Pat Volpe fishing on her birthday with son John & daughter Lisa from New York City on June 1st. On June 2nd, “La Brisa” fishing the same area, the next day out also released three marlin and boated a 38 lb wahoo for Neal O’Russa and Ryan Cushing from Illinois and Kevin Merta from North Carolina. Other notable catches were again for “Rebecca” on May 31st, with two striped marlin, two dorados and one yellowfin tuna for Megan Weakly from Denver and Chris Potts from Memphis. “Andrea” and “Fearless” also had double billfish days. Live bait was the most effective method for catching marlin. Forty four percent of charters caught marlin, with catches of one to three fish per boat. Twenty five striped marlin were caught overall with all but two released; those brought in weighed 100 and 170 lbs respectively

OTHER SPECIES: At the start of this report yellowfin tuna was the top catch, but this species started to decline as the week progressed. Fifty six percent of boats caught between one and ten tuna from 15 to 30 lbs. “Tracy Ann” was one of the top tuna boats, catching nine up to 20 lbs and releasing a striped marlin for Matt Lewis and friends from Los Angeles. “Bill Collector” also did well to catch eight, plus four roosterfish and a marlin which was released, fishing 12 miles from Cerro Blanco for Kelli & Linda Bullin, Anthony Woods and Christian Smith from Fort Worth, Texas. The total tuna count was eighty six. Dorado catches were average at twenty eight percent, with catches usually of a single fish and occasionally two. There were quite a lot of roosterfish caught inshore as well as a few jack crevalle. Wahoo catches slowed down, with just two 30 lb fish for us. “Ruthless” released two hammerhead sharks 13 miles out from Cerro Blanco and also boated a tuna for Daniel Pacheco and John Knox from San Antonio, Texas.

LOCATION: Three to eleven miles out from Chileno, Cabeza de Ballena, four to 12 miles from Cerro Blanco, Medanos Blancos, Destiladeres.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Quite cool for June….seas on Cortez calm to moderate, windy with whitecaps on the Pacific.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Our friend and manager of Pisces Real Estate, Pat Volpe, celebrated her birthday with her family who came from New York; they had a blast aboard "Rebecca".

Pat released the largest Striped marlin of the day of 140 lbs approximately, John La Pierre her son, a New York City Detective, released a smaller striped marlin and Lisa Kelly, Pat’s daughter caught a nice 20 lb Dorado for dinner.

Neal O´Roussa and Ryan Cushing from Illinois on June 2nd caught and released three striped marlin and caught one nice 38 lbs wahoo aboard "La Brisa".

Randy Bergeron from Cypress,TX and Kevin Taker from Houston, Tx had a great fishing day aboard "Bill Collector". They caught and released one striped marlin (approximately 150 lbs), seven rooster fish and keep ten yellowfin tunas between 12-30 lbs.

Here is Ernesto Moyron, one of our deckhands, loved by many of our clients..

About Pisces

www.piscessportfishing.com
We started off as a family owned and operated business out of the City of La Paz, Baja, Mexico in 1978 with one 28 ft boat. A couple of years later we moved to Cabo and since then we have grown to be the largest and most respected charter fleet in Mexico.
To keep pace with the growth of a more sophisticated market we gradually added more vessels and can now offer everything from the basic Baja Panga to mega yachts. Still, the favorite of most Cabo visitors(28-31ft) standard cruisers, seaworthy, clean boat, with very experienced crews which are great value for money. Slightly larger(32-48 ft), newer model, vessels with more comfort like salons and air-conditioning. Over 50 ft Sportfishers usually being new high tech vessels with great speed and more range. Last but not least, the Luxury Yachts, most being multi-purpose - fishing, cruising, snorkeling, diving -ideal for those want to be pampered with the very best.
What sets us apart are the relationships we form with our clients, long-term; our focus is service, value for money and experienced crews. We have a proven track record that keeps our guests returning year after year.